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Friday, June 20, 2014

Brittany's Corner: Day 6

God bless the souls of these poor boys, because they must be REALLY sore after today. Though the privilege of meeting and training with four world-class instructors was certainly a treat, meeting the lot of them in succession directly after a killer Crossfit workout was probably one of the most exhausting, if rewarding, things these boys have ever done.

The instructor to start their day was Sergeant Major Mayfield, an expert in combat jiu-jitsu and an ex-Marine who was awarded three Purple Hearts after the Vietnam War. Throughout the morning, Mayfield taught the boys a series of extremely useful self-defense techniques.

Next was Rafael Rosendo, an international competitor and black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, who showed the cadets the ropes in ground fighting.

Nick Lowe followed him up. Lowe, a fifth degree black belt out of England, trains Olympians as well as public schooled kids in his community. Part of their time with Lowe today was spent on a "meatgrinder"--aka, a workout summed up by Instructor Carroll as the "Seven Stations of Pain". This workout featured everything from burpees to judo and lasted the entirety of an hour and a half. The cadets were reasonably exhausted after this.

But they weren't done just yet.

Once Lowe had left, Bryan Olson arrived. Olson is a 4-time Olympian in judo and a successful grappling tournament champion, as well as the owner of a Crossfit gym. He's a just little bit BA. Olson drilled the cadets on takedowns and submissions until they could spiritually relate to the dictionary definition of the word "exhausted".

As soon as Olson was gone, the gym turned into a communal nap bunker for the next two and a half hours.

Until dinner, of course, which is always a favorite amongst teenage boys. Tonight they were served hamburgers and/or bean burgers, tortilla chips with mango salsa, salad drizzled with Italian dressing, and, an all-time favorite, grapes.

As usual, after dinner two groups of boys were shuttled to a nearby Comfort Inn pool and given time to enjoy the water before they were brought back to compete in the evening grapple fest competition.

Sergeant Major Mayfield telling the cadets what's what

Mayfield demonstrating proper form part 1

And part 2

Rafael Rosendo giving a lecture on how to properly kick butt

The cadets attempting to kick butt as well as him

Nick Lowe talking judo to these clearly weary fellas

A couple boys practicing some techniques in their ring

Bryan Olson tackling a boy in order to keep him awake, probably

A shot of dinner with special guests of Mrs. Carroll, Cadet Lagman's arm and my hip and wrist